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Friday, October 2, 2015

Currently Reading | Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Today I'm sharing this fantastical new book I'm reading, Big Magic (affiliate) by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book came out September 22nd and it has srsly taken over my Facebook feed. I know she's published other books, but the only other book I've read was Eat, Pray, Love. I've read it twice and even bought Mama Carrizo a copy of it in Spanish. <3 And we watched the movie because we adore Julia Roberts.

So yeah... For the last few weeks, I've seen this book pop up on my Facebook feed a lot. Along with the book on my feed, I also see her podcast, Magic Lessons, which apparently has been around for months. The excitement was growing and I thought about giving the podcast a try. Now, I'm not a podcast person per se but since I have a 45min to an hour commute to and from work I figured I'd give it a shot. That day was Tuesday. I listened to three episodes and really felt what was being said. It convinced me that I needed to get this book.. so I did.

There are 12 Magic Lessons episodes and they aren't very long so you can probably hear them all in one day. Today is Friday and not only have I listened to them all, but I've replayed a few of them a couple of times. I've been keeping my own notes about some of things that really resonate with me, my English teachers would be so proud! Basically what happens is Elizabeth calls someone who emailed her their story about being in a creative rut. You hear the story and you either nod your head in agreement or you feel incredibly sad for their loss (Episode 5). Elizabeth then gives her incredible two cents to which you nod again and get your mind blown. The episode after the story is Elizabeth calling a friend of hers for more advice for the previous caller. It's all quite entertaining and inspiring to hear how people who have "made it" treat creativity and the advice they give. This podcast works for anyone in any type of creative hustle so if you're feeling a little out of it, you should probably give this one a shot.

I'm not too far into the book yet, but I'm really enjoying what I'm reading and even taking notes. Sometimes reading it, writing it and saying it outloud helps it really sink in. Or at least that's what works for me occasionally. I haven't been feeling very creative lately and the creative things I want to get done are just not getting done. I'm either having a hard time starting, losing interest too quickly or I'm procrastinating..

Speaking of procrastinating, Elizabeth said something that I'd like to share with you.

All procrastination is fear. Anything that you do that stops you from the work that is gnawing at you. The work that wants to be made through you, the creative project that's begging you to release it. The treasures that are hidden inside of you. Anything that you do that blocks that, is fear. And it might look like fear very obviously or it might look like.. fear has a lot of shitty disguises so fear shows up as perfectionism. Fear shows up as insecurity. Fear shows up as guilt. Fear shows up as procrastination. All of it is just something you’re too scared to do - episode 1, Elizabeth Gilbert

After I picked the book up, I wandered around the book store because book store. I picked up a Calvin & Hobbs book(affiliate) for E and headed to the journal section because paper. That's where I found the Be Inspiredjournal with over 300 prompts and inspirational quotes. I'was thinking it was meant to be so I grabbed the journal and took my excited ass to the register so I didn't spend more of my money.

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